Major inquiry chaired by Sir Roy Anderson, former rector of Imperial College
London, criticises "outdated" A-levels and calls for them to be replaced by
a baccalaureate

A-levels should be scrapped in favour of a European-style baccalaureate because schools are failing to prepare teenagers for university and the workplace, a major report has warned.

Traditional “gold standard” qualifications should be phased out over six to eight years to give pupils a grounding in a wider range of subjects and job skills, according to a powerful lobby of academics and business leaders.

The expert group insisted that A-levels were “too narrow”, failed to properly reward pupils with flair and promoted a system of “learning to the test”.

It was claimed that too many sixth-formers left school with poor levels of writing, basic numeracy, critical thinking, problem-solving, time management and an inability to work independently.

The report recommended shifting towards a baccalaureate-style qualification in which pupils study around six subjects rather than specialising in just three.

New courses should also include a compulsory extended project and cover the assessment of “softer” skills such as team working and interpersonal skills, it said.

The conclusions were made as part of a six-month inquiry led by Sir Roy Anderson, former rector of Imperial College London.

The 14-strong advisory group also included Sir Michael Rake, chairman of BT and president of the Confederation of British Industry, and Sir David Bell, the Reading University vice-chancellor and former permanent secretary at the Department for Education.

Any move to a baccalaureate will be resisted by the Government which has already rewritten the national curriculum and unveiled a significant overhaul of A-levels.

It also comes a decade after similar plans were considered and rejected by the then Labour government.

But Sir Roy said there was a concern that the “English classroom and what’s taught in it has changed little in the last 60 years”.

“While the past has much to teach us, that shouldn’t be at the expense of keeping a keen eye on the future,” he said.

Sir Michael said the country needed to “move on from our narrow out-dated focus with A-levels and to improve on the other competencies necessary for success, including the fundamental need to improve the basic skills of literacy and numeracy, which are at an unacceptably low level”.

A-levels – first introduced in the early 50s and taken by 300,000 pupils each year – involve teenagers specialising in three or four subjects between the age of 16 and 18.

But the latest report, Making Education Work, recommended moving towards a baccalaureate system, which is already adopted in parts of Europe and the Far East.

The study – commissioned by the publishers Pearson – suggested it should cover English, maths, languages, science and technology as well as other skills such as teamwork and a compulsory extended project.

In a further recommendation, the study called for the creation of an independent body made up of teachers, employers, universities and political parties to establish a "long-term political consensus" over education.

A spokesman for the Department for Education said: “Our new curriculum was developed following extensive consultation with a wide range of experts and will give children the essential knowledge they need.

“Alongside wider reform to GCSEs, A levels and vocational qualifications this will mean young people leave school with the skills and qualifications they need to secure a job, apprenticeship or university place.”